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Now i bet that some of you are thinking “But why don´t you just use Chrome?”. Because i do use Chrome, but i use Firefox as well (as i´m a both a web designer and developer). Anyhow, some days ago a started to notice that my Firefox browser was really slow. As i had terrible lag problems while typing, watching YouTube videos, and so on.

So i started to investigate the issue in hope to find a salvation to the problem. And after some digging and searching, i found out that there was a handful of problems with my Firefox browser (and this might be the part that could help you out as well). So i´m going to list each and every one of them for you guys.

1. Firefox hardware acceleration (turn it off):

The hardware acceleration function could be the main reason behind why you´re Firefox is really slow and laggy.

2. Firefox extensions (delete the extensions that you don´t need. And keep the one´s that you REALLY need):

If you got a lot of active extensions in Firefox, then it will slow down your browser for sure. Some extensions might even make Firefox crash.

3. Firefox plugins (just like in the case with the Firefox extensions. Only keep the plugins that you really need. Remove the rest):

Over time, a lot of plugins tends to be installed in Firefox. And most of them you don´t even need.

4. Firefox appearance (to have a beautiful Firefox, or a slow Firefox. That´s the question…):

Having a nice Firefox theme appearance is always nice. But some themes (skins) slows Firefox down a whole lot. And if that´s the case, then just go with the default appearance theme for Firefox.

5. Firefox network connections (clean your browser history and cache):

A fast and easy way to speed up Firefox, is to clear your cache, offline data and browser history.

6. Firefox updates (update Firefox, plugins and extensions to the latest edition):

Most of the time Firefox let´s you know when there´s a new update for Firefox. But always run a update check every now and then, to be on the safe side.

7. Scan your computer for malware, spyware, adware, trojans and viruses (recommendation Kaspersky internet security 2015 and malware bytes):

It´s always a good idea to scan your computer for unwanted programs and extensions of the evil kind.

8. Get a really good computer tune up program (recommendation: Tune Up 2015. You can check for hardware, software, browser and other problems):

I´ve been using Tuneup for years. It makes your computer fit for fight in no time!

9. Firefox pipelining (here´s a old but really good article that explains WHAT the Firefox pipelining trick is all about):

Just open a new Firefox window, and type in “about:config” in the url bar.

These are the lines on the pipelining setup page, which you should change.

10. When nothing else works. Uninstall and reinstall Firefox (do a clean install of Firefox to be on the safe side):

Firefox 38 is set for a release sometime in May. The latest edition of Firefox (at this time) would be the 37.0.2 release (which solved “some” of the slow down problems).

Most of these practices can of course be used for other web browsers as well of course. But “hopefully” my tips and tricks will help you speeding up your slow Firefox browser.

Resources:
How to make Firefox faster

Firefox 38

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround